What does this research mean for the field?

Paupers in Teesside Union Workhouses between 1875 and 1919 actively exercised agency and resisted institutional rules to maintain their dignity, reflecting broader national patterns of pauper resistance. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONFIRMATORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.SUPPORTS_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how institutional authority, negative social perceptions of paupers, and staff abuse functioned within nineteenth-century workhouses while evaluating evidence of inmate agency and resistance.

August 30, 2026Open Access

Perception, Poverty and Power: Institutional Authority, Abuse and Inmate Agency in Teesside Union Workhouses; Guisborough, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, 1875 – 1919

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To examine how institutional authority, negative social perceptions of paupers, and staff abuse functioned within nineteenth-century workhouses while evaluating evidence of inmate agency and resistance.
Analyzed Board of Guardians minute books, local newspapers, and pauper correspondence from the National Archives MH 12 collection.
Conducted a comparative historical assessment across three workhouses in Guisborough, Hartlepool, and Middlesbrough covering the period 1875 to 1919.
Paupers faced routine mistreatment and abuse of administrative authority by workhouse staff, reinforced by systemic policies and public perceptions of paupers as immoral and irresponsible.
Workhouse inmates consistently exerted agency by defying institutional rules, disrupting daily routines, and communicating complaints directly to central authorities to defend their dignity.

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Implication

Archival study uncovers institutional abuse and active resistance in union workhouse inmates, highlighting pauper agency and efforts to preserve dignity under the New Poor Law.

Cite This Study

Sharen Cleary Meredith (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a93f00a6c1a8fb52e79c052 https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00111755

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Implication

Archival study uncovers institutional abuse and active resistance in union workhouse inmates, highlighting pauper agency and efforts to preserve dignity under the New Poor Law.

Perception, Poverty and Power: Institutional Authority, Abuse and Inmate Agency in Teesside Union Workhouses; Guisborough, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, 1875 – 1919

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Perception, Poverty and Power: Institutional Authority, Abuse and Inmate Agency in Teesside Union Workhouses; Guisborough, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, 1875 – 1919

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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