Analysis of the data

Headline stats

849 children in the database (474 boys and 375 girls, a ratio of 56:44, see Chart 1).

1,828 transfers (this includes deaths occurring within an institution).

24 deaths from cholera.

20% of children were orphans (where the parental status is known, see Chart 2).

Chart 3 shows admissions to Tooting or Brixton grouped by month, across all years analysed, and Chart 4 shows the age at admission, give or take a year.

Chart 1. Pauper farm residents in the database, by gender

At this stage of the project I'm not drawing any conclusions from the difference in numbers of boys and girls admitted.

Chart 2. Status of parents of children in the database, where known

We see that, perhaps as expected, it is more common for an orphaned child to be admitted than one who has lost just one parent. Though it is more common still for both parents to be alive.

Frequently a child is admitted when parents themselves are in a workhouse, or when the child is 'deserted' at an institution by a parent. Desertion is often temporary and might be better described as the child being purposely left at an institution for a time, rather than the parents doing a runner.

Chart 3. Number of children admitted, by month of admission

The spike in June is due to the large number of children admitted to the Brixton house around 19-Jun-1849. It seems probable that many children who had been removed from Tooting back to their 'home' union or who had been convalescing in Margate were now being sent back to a pauper home. If so, it's remarkable that the pauper home chosen was run by the brother of a man so widely vilified for his maltreatment of children in Tooting. Could the children have expected much better treatment up the road in Brixton, or was this a matter of necessity?

Chart 4. Number of children admitted, by age at admission

While it seems relatively rare for a toddler to be admitted, it is saddening to so many very young children being sent to a pauper farm. The numbers drop off rapidly after 14, as children of that age and above would often be placed into service.