Memories sought for Leeds workhouse history days
Students from the University of Leeds will be performing at the museum, where the workhouse was situated, on May 4 and 5.
Organisers are seeking information about the museum’s former life as the Leeds Union Workhouse or anyone who has stories to tell about it from relatives or historical memories handed down.
The Leeds Moral and Industrial Training School was built on a field in 1845. This building forms part of the current Lincoln Wing. There then followed the Leeds Union Workhouse, which now houses the Thackray Museum, and the Leeds Union Infirmary, currently the Gledhow Wing.
By the end of the 19th century, the buildings had become used for medical care of the poor, rather than workhouse and training.
Students from the university’s School of Performance and Cultural Industries have created three live performance experiences to allow visitors see life through the eyes of Leeds people in Victorian times.
Tutor Dr Tony Gardner said: “They will experience the dangers of under-developed surgical procedures, the difficulty of obtaining medicine and the ever-looming fear of the Workhouse.
“They will hear about harsh conditions used to “cure the moral sin of poverty”, and interact with female inmates.
“All the material will be based on true stories sourced from Workhouse records, and show the harsh reality of the conditions faced by the Victorian poor.”
Telephone 0113 244 4343 if you can help or contact Emily Stubbs on 07427 902394, email: pc11es@leeds.ac.uk
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