[203] First Annual Report, 1835, p. 29, and end.
[204] Eighth Annual Report, 1842, pp. 13-15, 188-190, 194-198.
[205] General Order, 5th February 1842, art. 11, in Eighth Annual Report, 1842, p. 81; amended by General Consolidated Order, 24th July 1847, art. 100; still in force.
[206] Eighth Annual Report, 1842, pp. 14, 188-190.
[207] General Order, 5th February 1842, art. 9, in Eighth Annual Report, 1842, p. 80; General Consolidated Order, 24th July 1847, art. 98; still in force.
[208] Instructional Letter of 5th February 1842, in Eighth Annual Report, 1842, pp. 108-109. In 1845, after the deliberate sending to the workhouse of a smallpox patient had led to an epidemic, the Central Authority goes so far as to suggest to the board of guardians concerned "that it is of the utmost consequence that provision should be made at the workhouse by separate infectious wards for the reception of cases of this description without endangering the health of all in the house" (Letter of 25th September 1845, in Official Circular, 1st January 1846, No. 55, p. 15). But even then there was no order made on the subject; no alteration of the classificatory scheme; and no general recommendation to all boards of guardians.
The explanation of the omission to provide for the sick will become apparent at a later stage. It was no part of the policy of the Central Authority that the sick should be received into the workhouse at all. It was assumed that they would normally be relieved in their own homes. The incidental scanty references to the sick wards of the workhouses had reference only to the accommodation of such of the inmates of the workhouse as happened to fall sick. Even these were, in serious cases, to be transferred to a voluntary hospital, where such an institution existed. A resolution of the Poplar Board of Guardians, in 1842, to send "all cases requiring extraordinary surgical aid" to the London Hospital was approved (Official Circular, No. 20, 30th July 1842, p. 297). "Any reasonable subscription to a hospital or similar establishment by a Board of Guardians" would be sanctioned (ibid. No. 17, 12th April 1842, p. 250.)
[209] Art. 99 of General Consolidated Order of 24th July 1847; still in force.
[210] Consolidated Order for the Administration of Relief in Town Unions, 7th March 1836, sec. 5; in Second Annual Report, 1836, p. 89.
[211] Art. 12 of General Order, 5th February 1842, in Eighth Annual Report, 1842, p. 82; repeated in art. 101 of General Consolidated Order, 24th July 1847.