Virginia's Workhouses for the Poor: Care for “Divers Idle and Disorderly Persons”

Abstract

Commencing in 1661, the responsibility for providing welfare assistance to the poor was assigned to the colony's parish churches, whose members rendered care, for which they were paid. During the mid-18th century, as the ranks of the poor swelled and the cost of providing for them became increasingly burdensome, parish churches embarked upon a major social experiment: they began operating workhouses, where the indigent could be sheltered and, in theory, also earn their keep. Archaeological research at Bruton Parish poorhouse provided a glimpse into the material culture of one such workhouse.