Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Abuse, Neglect and Fire in a London Children’s Workhouse is a new book from Forest Gate resident and author John Walker.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Abuse, Neglect and Fire in a London Children’s Workhouse © Neandra Etienne

The local historian is also owner of the highly successful history blog E7 Now and Then.

His book is an account of the lives of Victorian east London pauper children, from the age of two, trapped in an institution where abuse, neglect, ill-discipline and corruption were rife. The story is told in the context of how English authorities treated “looked-after” children over a thousand-year period.

I asked John what prompted him to tell this story: ‘Having written about the building in my blog, I’ve been left wanting to find out more. I started to dig around in archives and was amazed at what I discovered about the Forest Lane establishment. There was a book in it, which I felt I had to write! The establishment housed over 50,000 East End workhouse youngsters, from the age of two, in the second half of the nineteenth century. After its closure as a workhouse school, it became Forest Gate maternity hospital, until the 1980s, where it saw the birth of 50,000 Newham babies. The stories of all of those children and the subsequent lives of many are told, and they are gripping.’

A great deal of research was required for the book. John said: ‘Very little has been published about the institution, but there are thousands of documents about them in the London Metropolitan and National Archives, and thousands of articles about them in nineteenth century newspapers. The more I looked, the greater the story emerged, of, as the title of the book indicates, abuse, scandal and the devastating fire on New Year’s Day 1890, killing 26 children. It took about a year to research, and the writing gave me something to do during lockdown!’

So what is next? “‘Let’s see how this goes. I’m at the early stages of investigating another gripping local history topic concerning one more little-known institution, about which there are reams of documentation in the Essex Records Office. I need to dig a bit deeper to work out if it becomes a book, or a smaller pamphlet – but there is definitely a story to be told!’

Published 26 August 2021, priced £12.99 the book was launched at Newham Bookshop on the same date.

John Walker book signing © Neandra Etienne

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.