Joseph Rogers, M.D.: Reminiscences of a Workhouse Medical OfficerRogers, Joseph
History
Joseph Rogers, M.D.: Reminiscences of a Workhouse Medical Officer
Rogers, Joseph
Charities, Medical -- Great Britain; Poor laws -- Great Britain
occasion to spend the money I had collected for her; altogether she
fully bore out the opinion I had formed of her. The reason why the
Guardian Board had acted so harshly to this young woman was this: If
they had allowed her to remain in their workhouse until after the
execution of her husband, as a widow they could not have removed her for
a twelvemonth; they therefore sent her away at once to avoid this
dilemma.
About two years after Mr. Catch's departure, I was surprised by a visit
from the medical officer of the Newington Workhouse. He told me that he
had called to ask me whether I could advise him what he was to do; that
Catch obstructed him in his duty, swore at him, and refused to obey his
orders. I told him to go down to the Poor Law Board, but that they might
or might not assist him. Unfortunately, at that time, Mr. Farnall was
away in Manchester, superintending the special relief arrangements in
Lancashire with regard to the Cotton Famine, and there was no one at the
Board who could or would advise him. He called on me on several
occasions subsequently to tell me of the misery he daily underwent. On
one occasion I told him to write down in a journal all instances of
obstruction, and if possible get every case verified by a witness.
Sooner or later you will catch him, I said. He followed my advice. One
day he came to me and told me he thought he had got together sufficient
evidence, and should now ask for an official inquiry. Mr. Farnall, one
of the most honourable Poor Law Inspectors the Board ever had, had just
then come back to town. I got some influence to bear on the Board, and
an inquiry was granted. It lasted some time, and Mr. Simmonds proved the
obstruction, &c., so completely, that on the last day, and when it was
evident how the case would go, Catch followed the doctor and paid nurse
out of the Board-room. They stopped in one of the day wards to discuss
the case and its probable results, when Catch went to his office and
wrote in his journal that he had surprised the pair holding improper
relations. This charge coming to the knowledge of the nurse, who was a
respectable young woman, she went at once to the physician accoucheur of
Guy's Hospital and requested that he would examine her. This he did,
when he gave her a certificate that Catch's allegation was untrue. A
special meeting of the Board having been called to investigate this
charge, it was made absolutely clear that Catch had hatched this foul
accusation. The Board immediately suspended him. The circumstances were
reported to the Poor Law Board, who called on him to resign. It will
hardly be believed that after this, Catch, mainly through the influence
of his friends at the Strand Board and the aid of the clerk, got
appointed to the Lambeth Workhouse, where for some time he tyrannized
over the subordinate officers and inmates, until at last, his cup being
full, he lost that appointment also. Hereafter I will give the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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