THE SHEFFIELD WORKHOUSE SCANDAL 1882

"Never open the door to the lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it"

Dwelling	23 Alderson Rd
Census Place	Ecclesall Bierlow, York, England
Family History Library Film	1342120
Public Records Office Reference	RG11
Piece / Folio	4637 / 17
Page Number	25

The house was a boarding house that was kept by a 60year old widower Frances Mason who originated from Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Lodging at the house was a 39 year old Printer from Kings Lynn, William Shepherd and his wife Louisa, 28, who was born in Sheffield. The other lodgers were the Wood family, John and Eliza Wood and their three young daughters. There was an elder daughter but she was not living with the family at the time.

Name	Relation	Marital Status	Gender	Age	Birthplace	Occupation
John Wood	Lodger (Head)	M	Male	35	Manchester, Lancashire, England	Drapers Assistant (Unemployed)
Eliza Wood	Lodger	M	Female	32	Collingham, Nottingham, England
Agnes Wood	Lodger		Female	5	Sheffield, York, England
Emily Wood	Lodger		Female	2	Sheffield, York, England
Beatrice Wood	Lodger		Female	9 m	Sheffield, York, England

On the 9th December 1880 John Wood had written to the Sheffield Daily Telegraph to describe his family's descent down the social scale into destitution and starvation as a consequence of the "consumption" that he had contracted three years ago. Consumption incidentally is an archaic term for tuberculosis - the bacteria seemed to consume people from within with its symptoms of bloody cough, fever, pallor, and long relentless wasting.

The contents of the letter are given in the following newspaper extract - I cannot begin to believe what happened after the letter was published but happen it did!

The Manchester Guardian dated 26th January 1882 also had a report on the gruesome and distressing events surrounding the death of John

The final report is from The North-Eastern Daily Gazette (Middlesbrough, England), Thursday, January 26, 1882 and went under the title

So John died on Saturday 21st January 1882. The origins of this macabre scene lies in the 1832 Anatomy Act repealed the dissection of murderers, and requisitioned instead of dying in poverty. The legislation never worked as efficiently as the body-snatchers, but the medical profession greeted it with relief as it de-criminalised dissection.

The dissection of the poor was profoundly unpopular, and contributed to the fear of the pauper funeral, and of dying in the workhouse, which resonates in the memories of older people even today.

The Leeds Mercury dated January 31, 1882 under the title THE SHEFFIELD WORKHOUSE SCANDAL gave a brief account of the subsequent enquiry.

"Mr. Basil Cane, the Poor Law Inspector for the district held an enquiry at the Sheffield Workhouse yesterday into the cause of a mistake by which the body of a young man named John Wood was taken to the Medical School for the purpose of dissection, instead of that of an old man named Thomas Ellis. Several of the Guardians were present, as were also Mr. Edward Skinner, (an unfortunate but appropriate surname?), lecturer on anatomy at the Medical School. The object of the Poor Law Inspector was to ascertain how the mistake had arisen. Evidence was given to show that the man who had charge of the dead-house had been dismissed from his post and that a new official had been put in his place. It is this and the failure to put cads bearing the names and ages of the bodies that led to the unfortunate occurrence. The enquiry lasted till late at night,"

The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England) also dated Tuesday, January 31, 1882 covered the same enquiry but added some additional detail

"Mr. Basil Cane, Poor Law Inspector held an enquiry at the Sheffield Workhouse yesterday concerning the removal of the body of a young man named John Wood which was taken by mistake to the Medical School instead of that of an old man named Ellis. Wood it appeared had been received into the hospital suffering from consumption and died within ten minutes of his admission. On the widow coming to claim the body for burial she was shown a coffin on which was a plate bearing the name of "John Wood age 36". On the lid being removed however she found that the coffin did not contain Wood's body but that of an old man named Ellis. Search was made and Wood's body was ultimately found laid on a slab at the Medical School ready for the anatomical lecturer and his students. Mrs. Wood declared that when the body was brought back to the workhouse there were several cuts to the neck as if inflicted by a lancet. It was explained that the cuts had been inflicted by the porter at the school in the process of shaving. The mistake arose through the recent appointment of a new man to take charge of the dead-house, and the failure to put cards bearing the names and ages on the bodies"

The last report I have is from Reynolds's Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, February 5, 1882. Under the title

The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Tuesday, January 31, 1882;

The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Tuesday, January 31, 1882