It's finally over. Not the most fun to write of all my books - but I am glad I did it all the same, and I certainly learned a lot.
Chapter 32 - WILLIAM
I once was rich -had lots of tin -
I never thought I’d get so thin,
Business failed, and I must go
Into the poorhouse, oh Dear oh
I have had a letter at last, but not from my children, as I hoped. It is from my half-brother George.
It reads as follows:
To William King of Stanwell Workhouse
I have been informed by a woman, Mrs. Stanley, who called into my grocer shop, that there is a man of your name resident at your place, who she thinks might be my brother. The brother to who I refer would now be 54 years old, having been born in 1827. He has (or possibly had) a wife called Eliza Taylor and several children whose names I don’t know.
When I last heard of him, he was working as a grocer in Dorking, Surrey. That would have been about 1872. If you are indeed my brother, please get in touch with me as I would like to know more about the circumstances of your committal in that place.
From George Williams King, 7 Lansdowne Crescent, Worcester.
I was never close to my brother. Once father had remarried and he had two young sons, he never treated me the same again. I couldn’t compete with them in father’s eyes as they were bright and sociable and full of fun. I was always one to be quiet and rather depressed, and my periods of black moods increased as time went on.
I thought moving from home with a wife and family would make me a happier man, but that wasn’t the case. I was not successful and when I lost the business, I lost any respect I had for myself. I had no wish to let my father or half-brother (the younger one, Downs, died shortly after my marriage) know how badly I had ruined our lives.
I attended my father’s funeral in 1872, but did not stay afterwards to talk to anyone, giving the pressure of business as my excuse. I was already unemployed at that state - living on the charity of my wife’s allowance from her father and the rent paid by her brother who lived with us. I was in the depths of depression almost continually in those days so don’t remember much of what went on, but I do know that my brother showed no interest in me, in the short time we spent in conversation before our father’s funeral.
I don’t know whether I want my brother to find me or not. I expect if I reply to him in the affirmative, he will feel the need to come here, see me, get me released, take me home with him, and either care for me or try to get me a job.
I have been happier here than for any period I can remember since my father remarried. I can’t imagine that being a poor relative, under the care of George Williams King, would suit me in the slightest.
If I don’t reply at all, he might try again. If I reply but say I don’t wish to have anything to do with him, he will think me churlish and might come to try to get me to change my mind. I think the best thing for me to do, is to ask Mrs. Saunders to reply on my behalf, stating that I am not the person he is looking for.
I may live to regret my decision, but that is what I have decided to do. For the few years left to me, I wish to be comfortable in my own skin - knowing that I am valued for what I am, with no pressure on me, and with the great friendship of Sam, who not only does not judge me, but comfortably and happily shares my way of life.
Epilogue
William King died probably in 1884 - but possibly in 1887 - but still in the area which would imply that he was at the time resident at the workhouse.
I am not sure when his wife died, but think it was probably in 1873. I don’t know when William King entered the workhouse - but only that he is listed as an inmate in 1881, and as a grocer.
George Williams King continued to thrive in the grocery business, taking it over from his uncles. He made a great success of his life, becoming Mayor of Worcester in 1907. His daughter, Muriel, was my husband’s grandmother. No mention was ever made, nor have any letters or pictures been found of his half-brother William, amongst his things that we inherited.
I have written two books that deal with George William King and his wife and daughter, Day after Day, and Lansdowne Crescent, both published through Lulu.
Emily Day Stanley and her husband John were the Matron and Master of the Workhouse in Calne - although they did not start the position in 1881 as I have stated, but were in place there in the 1875 Post Office Directory.
John died in Calne in the winter of 1886. I presume Emily left the workhouse at the same time. In the 1891 census, Emily is listed as a widow, working as the Matron of the Watford Workhouse Infirmary and Infection Hospital. In the 1901 census, Emily is listed as a retired matron, living as a boarder in Norwich, where her brother David and his family also lived.
JCR and Caroline Day - were my husband’s other great grandparents, as their son, Harold Day married Muriel King, the daughter of George Williams King.
The information about Caroline's parents and brother – who lived and worked in Calne is accurate. The relationship between them and the vicar is speculative, but with good cause to be true.
Sam is a made up character - but his writing is authentic, and was published anonymously by One of Them in 1885, the book called, “Indoor Paupers.” I have tried to find out who he might be and have come up with a name which might well fit the bill for him, but I am not prepared to state who he is, as that would not be ethical, as I could not prove the case.
My main source of information was the wonderful and very complete website about workhouses, written by Peter Higginbotham. He also had a relative who lived and died in a workhouse, and finding out about him was what inspired him to collect together thousands of references and pictures about workhouses.
References:
Ancestry.co.uk
James Duncan and the Garden of Mauritius, by Robert Duncan, Lurs Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007.
Most of the information about workhouses came from a very useful site credited below.
Higginbotham, Peter "The Workhouse" <http://www.workhouses.org.uk/6-4-08
Some of the history of the places and workhouses comes from
visionofbritain.org.uk
http://www.judandk.force9.co.uk/workhouse.html
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/
The medical information about depression comes from:
http://www.fictionethics.org/aps/Paper/11
http://www.ems.kcl.ac.uk/content/pub/b005.html
http://www.jugglerpress.com/jockm/CFS-M.E.html
The poems are bits from whole poems, mostly written by inmates of workhouses. They are collected together on Peter Higginbotham's workhouse site.
Cover photograph used with permission from photographer, Martin Reed from wiltshirepictures.co.uk
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Written by bluecity (377 comments posted) 5th July 2008 | So, William spurned his half-brother! So much pride there! Pride to spite his face!
I get the impression, from your forward, that you didn't enjoy writing this much, which I feel is a terrible shame. It was certainly very skillfully written, very well-researched and very workmanlike. You found a great number of very interesting facts about workhouses and the attitudes of people in them, and that was fascinating to me.
William came across well as a character - inadequate, self-doubting, but a caring, affectionate man.
Bumbling Emily, trying to do the right thing, trying to jolly her husband along, and all the guardians of the workhouse, was less well-defined. We got glimpses of what she was like, but she could have been developed in more detail.
However, I feel that, with all your works, its value lies not in fiction, but as history.
Well done, Jean!
And tell me about lulu. I've never really got into it. Does it work well for you?
Rosemary
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Written by bluecity (377 comments posted) 5th July 2008 | By the way, Jean, Petmarj (who - bless him - always reviews my work) has started writing a thriller (Beluga) on the Crime section. Well worth a read!
Rosemary | Thanks again Rosemary
Written by jean.day (2283 comments posted) 5th July 2008 | And for all your faithful reviewing of this book. I was pleased when it was all posted - as I didn't want to leave it up in the air - and had finished writing it some time ago. I was disappointed that it didn't get a larger following - but it is a bit of a grim subject.
| Searching The Past.
Written by petmarj (83 comments posted) 11th July 2008 | Hello Jean,
Rosemary (blue city) recommended that I read your work. Because I started at the last chapter, I obviously got a last-to-first view. Many of us now search for our past relatives, and this gives your story an interesting slant.
Workhouses feature in my wife's tree. Her great grandfather, Samuel, was born 1853. We pick him up in the 1871 census at Peterborough workhouse. By 1891, he is married with 3 children. One of his sons, George is married in 1909, and Samuel is shown to be a blacksmith.
However, we cannot trace George or Samuel in the 1901 census and we believe they may have gone abroad for a time. This type of mystery would suit your writing. I think that women writers can give more detail than can a man.
I thank you for your comments on Beluga.
Because you have the powers of research - try a mystery novel. I am sure that style would suit you.
Regards,
Petmarj. | Thanks Peter
Written by jean.day (2283 comments posted) 13th July 2008 | | As you can probably see, I have started a new project - but in play form this time for a change. I don't think I have enough imagination for writing a thriller. That's why I enjoy writing about history - the story's are all ready written, just waiting for somebody to link them together. |
Written by coosh (868 comments posted) 9th August 2008 | | This has been a fascinating subject, even if it appears to have exhausted you. When you write, does the fiction complement the fact - i.e. do you do masses of research first, look at the facts, and then add the fiction to fill the gaps - or do fiction and fact begin to merge as you progress and develop the story? These pieces are not just interesting because of the historical aspects of the workhouses, but also the way you examine the characters' take on their family relationships. A very worthwhile project, however much it seems to have taken out of you. | Thanks David
Written by jean.day (2283 comments posted) 9th August 2008 | You've got me worried now. In what way do I seem exhausted?
Most of my writing is based on fact - but because I don't know the whole story behind the fact, I have to invent what I think might have happened. In this story, the facts I had were the characters - and the workhouses - so the only thing invented was the relationship between the two main characters and their day to day activites, which involved me doing research into what workhouses were like -and my interpretation of what the people were really like. But because I know quite a lot about William's brother's personality - and also Emily's brother -(both brothers have left considerable family history details which we have inherited) I felt I was able to create a story which might not be that far from the truth.
I had no idea when I started writing this that I was going to find the gift of writing which I used as the character Sam. Those are all his own words - although I took some of them out of order, and left out quite a lot of what he wrote. I think that is the fun of my writing - it sorts of takes on a life of its own as I go along.
My current project, a play on drama scripts, is doing the same thing. I find out more about the real people I am writing about, and alter the story to fit the facts. |
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