Place    From 1725  To 1913

Westminster Union Workhouse / St James Workhouse

Categories: Social Welfare

The parish of St James Piccadilly erected a workhouse on Poland Street in 1725 for the able-bodied poor. This was taken over by the newly-formed Westminster Union in 1868. The workhouse closed in or shortly after 1913.

In 1914 the site was used for housing wartime refugees - 200 Russian Jews, mostly from Antwerp. It became the Poland Street Institute for Jews. 1925 much of the site was reconstructed as a garage, but not the western section where the plaque is found.

More information at Workhouses - St James's which supplies our image of the workhouse in 1809.

1884 map showing the area covered by all the different Poor Law Unions, including Westminster.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Westminster Union Workhouse / St James Workhouse

Commemorated ati

Westminster Union Workhouse

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Leo Bonn

Leo Bonn

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Lady Isabella Somerset

Lady Isabella Somerset

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Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (1st Baronet)

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (1st Baronet)

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Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, Race Issues, Social Welfare

3 memorials
Tower Hamlets Mission

Tower Hamlets Mission

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2 memorials
St Peter's Hospital / Fishmongers Almshouses

St Peter's Hospital / Fishmongers Almshouses

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2 memorials