| 1788/00/00 |
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Built after 1775, the Covent Garden Workhouse is in use by 1788 as the workhouse of the parish of St Paul, Covent Garden. Architect probably Edward Palmer. |
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| 1788/00/00 |
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The Covent Garden Workhouse cemetery is consecrated. |
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| 1802/00/00 |
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In 1802 and 1819 tenders are obtained for building an infectious ward and an infirmary respectively, each to the design of Thomas Hardwick (lost). |
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| 1830/00/00 |
Charles Dickens |
Life |
After the Dickens family returned to their flat at 22 Cleveland Street, not far from the Cleveland Street Workhouse, teenage Charles is afforded many opportunities to watch the desperate people entering the institution. |
Oliver Twist (book) |
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| 1831/11/06 |
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The authorities hear from those who have visit the station house to identify the body of the Italian Boy that no less than six boys have recently disappeared. The Italian Boy will be buried at the Covent Garden Workhouse cemetery. |
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Italian Boy Murder 1831 |
| 1836/00/00 |
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The building becomes the workhouse for the Strand Poor Law Union. Much altered internally, it remains clearly legible as a late-C18 Poor Law institution, whose austere yet imposing exterior eloquently announces its original purpose. |
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| 1853/00/00 |
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After visiting an elderly nurse at the Strand Union Workhouse, Louisa Twining is inspired to begin a campaign to improve workhouse conditions. |
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| 1855/00/00 |
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Before the laundry is built in the late 1850s, the body of the 'Italian boy', murdered in 1831 by Bishop and Williams, is disinterred from among the hundreds of skeletons lying at Strand Union Workhouse cemetery. |
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Italian Boy Murder 1831 |
| 1856/00/00 |
Dr Joseph Rogers |
Work |
Dr Joseph Rogers is appointed Medical Officer to the Strand Union. The grim conditions he will find here - overcrowding, insanitary, with little separate provision for the sick who - are to inspire him on his mission as a healthcare reformer. |
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| 1865/00/00 |
Dr Joseph Rogers |
Work |
While praising Rogers' efforts, the Strand Union is the focus of a series of damning articles on metropolitan workhouse infirmaries published in 'The Lancet'. |
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| 1866/00/00 |
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An official inquiry recommends the closure of several workhouses, including the Strand. |
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| 1868/00/00 |
Dr Joseph Rogers |
Work |
Due to the hostility of the Strand Guardians, Dr Joseph Rogers is dismissed from the Strand Union. Improvements made during his tenure include the addition of a dispensary and separate laundry. |
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| 1870/00/00 |
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The Strand Union moves c 1870 to a new workhouse at Edmonton. The building is extended and converted as the infirmary for the Central London Sick Asylums District, retaining only the C18 frontage block, c 1870-1875. |
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| 1924/00/00 |
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The Middlesex Hospital infirmary is remodeled. |
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