Hi John,
My gran and her siblings were also sent to Stobhill when my ggran took ill and my ggrandfather applied to the poorhouse for help. I think it would be the equivalent of our social services and just for assessment not for admittance -
http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk/gghb/collects/hb50.html
COS = Church of Scotland so I wonder if it was another Salvation Army type hostel.
The rent is a strange one as they usually give it weekly but in this case it looks like yearly although it still seems pretty expensive to me.
Regards,
Annette
Old Monkland Poorhouse record look-up please.
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nelmit
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Re: Old Monkland Poorhouse record look-up please.
Here’s some comprehensive information about the situation of children in Stobhill Hospital. It’s from Parliamentary Papers and is evidence given at the 1910 Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. I’ll post it in full as it doesn’t appear to be readily available elsewhere.
SECTION VI.
THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE CHILDREN IN THE SCOTTISH POOR LAW INSTITUTIONS VISITED.
(1) The Children in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow.
The children at Stobhill Hospital live in ten pavilions built on an incline within the hospital grounds, but quite separate from the rest of the hospital. The ten pavilions are completely separate from each other, and are built in two rows, the girls and younger boys living in the pavilions on one side, and the older boys in the pavilions on the other. Each pavilion has accommodation for thirty to thirty-eight children, except two which are much larger than the others and have accommodation for about sixty children each. One of these large pavilions is used as a nursery. In the centre of the pavilions is the schoolroom, and the hospital for the children is placed at the foot of the incline on which the pavilions stand. Each pavilion is in charge of a maid. Two nurses attend to the older children, and carry out the treatment of any sick children in the pavilions. There is a drill sergeant who is responsible for the discipline of the school children. The children in the nursery are looked after by four day nurses and two night nurses, and there is a relieving nurse who also helps in the nursery. A night nurse also makes periodical visits to the older children's pavilions. The children are under the medical care of the medical staff of the hospital.
In each pavilion is a play-room and a dining-room for the children and the dormitories. The homes are heated by hot water pipes and lighted by electricity. The dormitories and living-rooms are well ventilated by open windows, and the children are encouraged to practically live out of doors. The dormitories contain about 400 to 450 cubit feet of space per bed. The beds are comfortable and the bedding sufficient. The sanitary accommodation is of a good type. The children wash in small basins so arranged as to provide a constant supply of running water, and make it impossible for two children to wash in the same water. There is ample bath-room accommodation, and the children have a bath once a week and oftener if they like. They are supplied with tooth-brushes and directed to wash their teeth after each meal. The tooth-brushes are not numbered, but each child is expected to keep its tooth-brush in one place, and to remember which it is. Clean towels are given out twice weekly, and each child is expected to keep its own on the foot of its bed. No other precaution is taken to prevent the towels becoming mixed up. The cleanliness of the heads is looked after by the maid in each pavilion. The pavilions are well built and kept very clean. The rooms, however, are very bare and unhomelike. The only furniture in the dining-room is two wooden tables and some wooden forms. There are no pictures on the walls, no ornaments, and no plants. The fires are never lighted, and the rooms are very imperfectly heated by the hot water pipes. The children at the time of my visit had scarcely any toys, though I was told they had had an abundant supply at Christmas. The children are, however, encouraged to play out of doors. The boys have two footballs, handballs and a cricket outfit. The girls play ring games and cricket and have skipping-ropes. There is a library in the schoolroom from which the children borrow books. There is a good drill shed where boys and girls drill, and this is also used as a gymnasium, being fitted with a climbing-rope, hanging-rings, horizontal bars, and horizontal ladder. The children are also taught dancing here. Most of the playground is covered with gravel, but the children also have the use of a small grass plot.
The clothes of the children are good, but, considering the severity of the weather at the time of my visit, the boys' clothes were scarcely sufficient. They consisted of a cotton shirt, waistcoat and coat, lined trousers, stockings and shoes. In the winter this should certainly be supplemented by flannel or flannelette underclothes. The girls' clothes were warmer. They consisted of flannelette chemise, two petticoats, a serge frock and bodice and a pinafore. In the winter, however, at any rate, combinations should be added.
I saw the children at dinner in one pavilion, and was struck by the general appearance of disorder and the need of more careful superintendence and training. The younger children were not allowed knives, and many of them took the meat out of their broth with their fingers and ate it holding it in their hands.
All the children help in keeping the pavilions clean. They get up at 6 a.m. and work in the house until 9.30 a.m., having their breakfast at 8 a.m. At 9.30 a.m. they go to school where they stay until 1 p.m. with an interval of half-an-hour for play. At 1 p.m. they have dinner and return to school at 2 p.m. They are in school until 4 p.m. with an interval of twenty minutes. They play from 4 to 5 p.m., have tea at 5 p.m. and then play till bedtime which is at 7 p.m. The elder girls seem to have very little liberty. After getting up they go to the nursery and help there until school-time, they work there again in the dinner hour, and in the evening from 4 till 6.30 p.m. They also work in the nursery on Saturdays. Their recreation seems to consist in taking the children from the nursery out to play. There is an average attendance of about 120 children at the school. The staff consists of one head teacher and three assistants, one of the latter being employed in the infants' school which is held in one of the pavilions.
The children go to church in the grounds and practically never go outside until discharged. When it is remembered that some of the children have been in the hospital for years, this arrangement cannot be too much condemned.
When admitted, children are first received into a ward, where they are isolated for three to six weeks before being transferred to the pavilions. When ill, they are sent to the children's hospital which is, as before mentioned, at one end of the rows of pavilions, and is quite separate from the rest of the hospital. Trifling complaints are, however, nursed in the dormitories of the pavilions. This is a bad arrangement, for these children seem to be alone in the dormitories the greater part of the day. Scabies and slight cases of ringworm are also nursed in the pavilions. Under such a system isolation is impossible, and this, undoubtedly, accounts for the large number of cases of these diseases existing at the time of my visit. A large amount of visual defect existed, but notwithstanding this, only two children were wearing glasses.
There is no dentist attached to the hospital, extractions being performed by the medical staff. The teeth were cleaner than at any other place I visited, but not so clean as one would have expected when told the children brushed their teeth after each meal. As a matter of fact, it was obvious the cleaning was a very perfunctory matter, was neglected completely in some cases, and in others was performed by brushing across the front teeth without touching the back. The condition of the teeth, as regards decay and irregularity, was extremely bad. Many mouths were seen retaining decayed primary teeth which were seriously interfering with the regular development of the secondary set. About 75 per cent of the teeth urgently needed a dentist's attention. This large amount of dental decay is related to the number of cases of rickets and congenital syphilis existing among the children, and to the large number of children of very bad physical type. In this connection, it must be remembered that many of the children remain in Stobhill because they cannot be boarded out owing to physical or mental defect. This explains how it is that the children not only in Stobhill, but in the other poorhouses visited, compare, as regards their physical development, unfavourably with the boarded-out children and the out-relief children. It also explains the large number of deformities and diseased conditions met with.
One hundred and fifty children (seventy-six boys and seventy-four girls) were examined at Stobhill. Dr. Core, the medical superintendent, kindly gave me every facility for carrying out the examination. Full particulars will be found in Appendix XV., p. 207. It will be seen that practically all the measurements of weight and height fall considerably below the standard averages. I subjoin a table of percentages for the purpose of comparing these children at Stobhill with the out-relief children examined in, Glasgow.
It will be seen from the above table that even compared with such a poor type as that of the out-relief children, the Stobhill children were distinctly worse developed. They were markedly stunted in growth and deficient in weight. As regards nutrition, the number of badly nourished children was only slightly less than that of the out-relief children. Their health appearance, however, was distinctly better. The number of bright children was somewhat less, and the number of dull children about the same. A comparatively large number of cases of conjunctivitis—with three exceptions of a mild form—was observed These were mostly receiving treatment, but some required isolation. Six children had corneal nebulae, in some cases interfering with the vision of one eye.
It is interesting to note that the number of enlarged glands is distinctly small as compared with other children examined. This is partly due to the greater cleanliness of the teeth, but more largely, I think, to the extremely good ventilation of the rooms, and to the fact that the children spend so much of their time in the open air. The number of cases of rickets was very large, and many of the children were very badly deformed. Some of them would be benefited by operation. Three cases of scabies and nine cases of ringworm were seen—most of these were under treatment, but were not isolated. There were two cases of hernia amongst the boys. There were six cases of discharging ears which were, however, receiving treatment.
From returns obtained from the medical staff which will be found in Table IX. of Appendix XV., p. 210, it will be seen that twelve eases of scabies, six cases of conjunctivitis, and eleven cases of ringworm of the scalp were being treated in the general dormitories of the children's homes. All these children require rigid isolation.
The children's hospital is very bright and well arranged, the wards being well furnished and well constructed. Most of the wards were full at the time of my visit, and this, probably, accounts for the large number of cases being treated in the children's pavilions amongst the other children. It is noticeable that there were sixteen cases of conjunctivitis in the hospital.
I also give the dietary in Appendix XV., p. 210 and 211. The quantities allowed are fully sufficient, but provision for greater variety would be advantageous. Children of such a low type of development as those met with here require very careful and individual dieting and sufficient supervision to ensure that they consume the food supplied. It seemed to me that the supervision at meals was not sufficient to ensure that the delicate children were taking their food properly, and that those who did not do so would be noticed and their diet altered so as to tempt their appetites.
All the best,
Alan
SECTION VI.
THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE CHILDREN IN THE SCOTTISH POOR LAW INSTITUTIONS VISITED.
(1) The Children in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow.
The children at Stobhill Hospital live in ten pavilions built on an incline within the hospital grounds, but quite separate from the rest of the hospital. The ten pavilions are completely separate from each other, and are built in two rows, the girls and younger boys living in the pavilions on one side, and the older boys in the pavilions on the other. Each pavilion has accommodation for thirty to thirty-eight children, except two which are much larger than the others and have accommodation for about sixty children each. One of these large pavilions is used as a nursery. In the centre of the pavilions is the schoolroom, and the hospital for the children is placed at the foot of the incline on which the pavilions stand. Each pavilion is in charge of a maid. Two nurses attend to the older children, and carry out the treatment of any sick children in the pavilions. There is a drill sergeant who is responsible for the discipline of the school children. The children in the nursery are looked after by four day nurses and two night nurses, and there is a relieving nurse who also helps in the nursery. A night nurse also makes periodical visits to the older children's pavilions. The children are under the medical care of the medical staff of the hospital.
In each pavilion is a play-room and a dining-room for the children and the dormitories. The homes are heated by hot water pipes and lighted by electricity. The dormitories and living-rooms are well ventilated by open windows, and the children are encouraged to practically live out of doors. The dormitories contain about 400 to 450 cubit feet of space per bed. The beds are comfortable and the bedding sufficient. The sanitary accommodation is of a good type. The children wash in small basins so arranged as to provide a constant supply of running water, and make it impossible for two children to wash in the same water. There is ample bath-room accommodation, and the children have a bath once a week and oftener if they like. They are supplied with tooth-brushes and directed to wash their teeth after each meal. The tooth-brushes are not numbered, but each child is expected to keep its tooth-brush in one place, and to remember which it is. Clean towels are given out twice weekly, and each child is expected to keep its own on the foot of its bed. No other precaution is taken to prevent the towels becoming mixed up. The cleanliness of the heads is looked after by the maid in each pavilion. The pavilions are well built and kept very clean. The rooms, however, are very bare and unhomelike. The only furniture in the dining-room is two wooden tables and some wooden forms. There are no pictures on the walls, no ornaments, and no plants. The fires are never lighted, and the rooms are very imperfectly heated by the hot water pipes. The children at the time of my visit had scarcely any toys, though I was told they had had an abundant supply at Christmas. The children are, however, encouraged to play out of doors. The boys have two footballs, handballs and a cricket outfit. The girls play ring games and cricket and have skipping-ropes. There is a library in the schoolroom from which the children borrow books. There is a good drill shed where boys and girls drill, and this is also used as a gymnasium, being fitted with a climbing-rope, hanging-rings, horizontal bars, and horizontal ladder. The children are also taught dancing here. Most of the playground is covered with gravel, but the children also have the use of a small grass plot.
The clothes of the children are good, but, considering the severity of the weather at the time of my visit, the boys' clothes were scarcely sufficient. They consisted of a cotton shirt, waistcoat and coat, lined trousers, stockings and shoes. In the winter this should certainly be supplemented by flannel or flannelette underclothes. The girls' clothes were warmer. They consisted of flannelette chemise, two petticoats, a serge frock and bodice and a pinafore. In the winter, however, at any rate, combinations should be added.
I saw the children at dinner in one pavilion, and was struck by the general appearance of disorder and the need of more careful superintendence and training. The younger children were not allowed knives, and many of them took the meat out of their broth with their fingers and ate it holding it in their hands.
All the children help in keeping the pavilions clean. They get up at 6 a.m. and work in the house until 9.30 a.m., having their breakfast at 8 a.m. At 9.30 a.m. they go to school where they stay until 1 p.m. with an interval of half-an-hour for play. At 1 p.m. they have dinner and return to school at 2 p.m. They are in school until 4 p.m. with an interval of twenty minutes. They play from 4 to 5 p.m., have tea at 5 p.m. and then play till bedtime which is at 7 p.m. The elder girls seem to have very little liberty. After getting up they go to the nursery and help there until school-time, they work there again in the dinner hour, and in the evening from 4 till 6.30 p.m. They also work in the nursery on Saturdays. Their recreation seems to consist in taking the children from the nursery out to play. There is an average attendance of about 120 children at the school. The staff consists of one head teacher and three assistants, one of the latter being employed in the infants' school which is held in one of the pavilions.
The children go to church in the grounds and practically never go outside until discharged. When it is remembered that some of the children have been in the hospital for years, this arrangement cannot be too much condemned.
When admitted, children are first received into a ward, where they are isolated for three to six weeks before being transferred to the pavilions. When ill, they are sent to the children's hospital which is, as before mentioned, at one end of the rows of pavilions, and is quite separate from the rest of the hospital. Trifling complaints are, however, nursed in the dormitories of the pavilions. This is a bad arrangement, for these children seem to be alone in the dormitories the greater part of the day. Scabies and slight cases of ringworm are also nursed in the pavilions. Under such a system isolation is impossible, and this, undoubtedly, accounts for the large number of cases of these diseases existing at the time of my visit. A large amount of visual defect existed, but notwithstanding this, only two children were wearing glasses.
There is no dentist attached to the hospital, extractions being performed by the medical staff. The teeth were cleaner than at any other place I visited, but not so clean as one would have expected when told the children brushed their teeth after each meal. As a matter of fact, it was obvious the cleaning was a very perfunctory matter, was neglected completely in some cases, and in others was performed by brushing across the front teeth without touching the back. The condition of the teeth, as regards decay and irregularity, was extremely bad. Many mouths were seen retaining decayed primary teeth which were seriously interfering with the regular development of the secondary set. About 75 per cent of the teeth urgently needed a dentist's attention. This large amount of dental decay is related to the number of cases of rickets and congenital syphilis existing among the children, and to the large number of children of very bad physical type. In this connection, it must be remembered that many of the children remain in Stobhill because they cannot be boarded out owing to physical or mental defect. This explains how it is that the children not only in Stobhill, but in the other poorhouses visited, compare, as regards their physical development, unfavourably with the boarded-out children and the out-relief children. It also explains the large number of deformities and diseased conditions met with.
One hundred and fifty children (seventy-six boys and seventy-four girls) were examined at Stobhill. Dr. Core, the medical superintendent, kindly gave me every facility for carrying out the examination. Full particulars will be found in Appendix XV., p. 207. It will be seen that practically all the measurements of weight and height fall considerably below the standard averages. I subjoin a table of percentages for the purpose of comparing these children at Stobhill with the out-relief children examined in, Glasgow.
It will be seen from the above table that even compared with such a poor type as that of the out-relief children, the Stobhill children were distinctly worse developed. They were markedly stunted in growth and deficient in weight. As regards nutrition, the number of badly nourished children was only slightly less than that of the out-relief children. Their health appearance, however, was distinctly better. The number of bright children was somewhat less, and the number of dull children about the same. A comparatively large number of cases of conjunctivitis—with three exceptions of a mild form—was observed These were mostly receiving treatment, but some required isolation. Six children had corneal nebulae, in some cases interfering with the vision of one eye.
It is interesting to note that the number of enlarged glands is distinctly small as compared with other children examined. This is partly due to the greater cleanliness of the teeth, but more largely, I think, to the extremely good ventilation of the rooms, and to the fact that the children spend so much of their time in the open air. The number of cases of rickets was very large, and many of the children were very badly deformed. Some of them would be benefited by operation. Three cases of scabies and nine cases of ringworm were seen—most of these were under treatment, but were not isolated. There were two cases of hernia amongst the boys. There were six cases of discharging ears which were, however, receiving treatment.
From returns obtained from the medical staff which will be found in Table IX. of Appendix XV., p. 210, it will be seen that twelve eases of scabies, six cases of conjunctivitis, and eleven cases of ringworm of the scalp were being treated in the general dormitories of the children's homes. All these children require rigid isolation.
The children's hospital is very bright and well arranged, the wards being well furnished and well constructed. Most of the wards were full at the time of my visit, and this, probably, accounts for the large number of cases being treated in the children's pavilions amongst the other children. It is noticeable that there were sixteen cases of conjunctivitis in the hospital.
I also give the dietary in Appendix XV., p. 210 and 211. The quantities allowed are fully sufficient, but provision for greater variety would be advantageous. Children of such a low type of development as those met with here require very careful and individual dieting and sufficient supervision to ensure that they consume the food supplied. It seemed to me that the supervision at meals was not sufficient to ensure that the delicate children were taking their food properly, and that those who did not do so would be noticed and their diet altered so as to tempt their appetites.
All the best,
Alan
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jongle
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:50 pm
Re: Old Monkland Poorhouse record look-up please.
Hello Annette and Alan,
To you Annette, my heartfelt thanks for all the time and trouble you've taken in helping me. =D>
To you Alan, many thanks for the wonderful information on the Stobhill children.![[cheers]](./images/smilies/cheers.gif "Cheers")
Regards,
John.
To you Annette, my heartfelt thanks for all the time and trouble you've taken in helping me. =D>
To you Alan, many thanks for the wonderful information on the Stobhill children.
Regards,
John.
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mds1203
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:34 pm
Old Monkland Poorhouse look-up -Patrick Dougan
Can anyone help with my enquiry. ](./images/smilies/brick-wall.gif "Brick wall")
My Great G/dad died in the Old Monklands Poorhouse and although I can track him from 1901 census to death April 1913, I cannot trace birth (england) or where his parents John & Ann where married. I don't think his wife would have been able to pay for his care as in 1911 she was working as a domestic servant whilst her two children stayed with her parents. I believe he was born 1877.
My Great G/dad died in the Old Monklands Poorhouse and although I can track him from 1901 census to death April 1913, I cannot trace birth (england) or where his parents John & Ann where married. I don't think his wife would have been able to pay for his care as in 1911 she was working as a domestic servant whilst her two children stayed with her parents. I believe he was born 1877.