James SMITH

James SMITH was born in 1836 and was admitted to the pauper farm in Tooting at about age 12.

His date of death is unknown. The cause of death has not yet been determined, but we are actively searching records for further information.

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Fact file on James SMITH

James had siblings, who would most likely have been admitted and discharged at the same time:

brother: SMITH Frederick born 1839
brother: SMITH Walter born 1843

Born: 1836
First recorded entry:
transfer from Clerkenwell Workhouse to Tooting
29-Jun-1848
Admission:
from Tooting to Clerkenwell Workhouse
11-Sep-1848
Admission:
from Clerkenwell Workhouse to Tooting
15-Sep-1848
Last recorded entry:
from Tooting to Clerkenwell Workhouse
23-Dec-1848
Outcome: Survived the epidemic
Died: unknown

Workhouses and pauper farms

During the 1840s and 1850s, workhouses were often places of hardship, where children such as James were sent due to difficult circumstances including poverty and family bereavements. The workhouse system was known for its strict rules and conditions, offering only the barest of necessities in exchange for hard labour.

The Tooting pauper home was not in itself a workhouse, but a private institution to which numerous London workhouses 'farmed out' children. The condition of many children living and working in the Tooting establishment is known to have been pitiful even before cholera broke out there.