It seems quite likely to me that 'the lamp" was a local euphemism for
the hated and feared workhouse. Here in Oxfordshire the word
'workhouse' did not seem to be used much except in official documents.
The RDC held their meetings in the workhouse boardroom and members
always referred to the workhouse as "this house". A local solicitor
told me it was called "the spike" in his younger days (which is what
George Orwell called it in the 1920s when he spent the night in one).
I think there was probably an all-night lamp (gas?) burning at the door
of the one in question, perhaps because of a large intake of tramps
every evening. It's also worth noting that early in the 20th century
the word 'workhouse' was changed by Parliament to 'Poor Law
Institution' - further evidence that the word tended to be shunned.
Brian Read
On 27 Oct 2008, at 13:23, David and Gill Foster wrote
> Hello
> As the context seems to be medical could this have been heat or UV
> light treatment? I'm sure I've seen something about this in connection
> with the London Hospital.
>
> David Foster
>
>
>
>
>
> ernie pollard wrote:
>> Another puzzle, if only to me?
>> A Victorian school log book for Benenden National School in Kent has
>> recently been found. It includes on 6 June 1879 -
>> "Several children away – some at the lamp some with chicken pox some
>> with whooping cough"
>> Does anybody know what "at the lamp" means. The writing is very clear.
>> Ernie Pollard
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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