The Darker Side of Warwick In The Ballroom

At the end of March, the afternoon social gathering called ‘In The Ballroom’, held in the Jury Street Court House,  heard a talk by Kate Sargent, a member of Unlocking Warwick who has been researching the archives at the County Record Office to find out what Warwick was like in the mid-1900s.

Kate was assisted by Rick Thompson, who read extracts from the local newspaper of the day, the Warwick Advertiser, about criminal cases that had come before the magistrates in the building, and some disturbing reports presented to the Board of Health which also met in the Court House.

While the records contain reports of society balls and assemblies in the ballroom, and an extravagant welcome organised for a visit by Queen Victoria, they also show a gulf between rich and poor, with up to 12,000 refugees from the Irish famine living in squalid conditions around West Street and Friar Street. 

A report from the Inspector of Nuisances, who was supposed to regulate the boarding-houses and supervise the sanitation system, revealed that the drains and cess-pools were overflowing, and there were a great many deaths from typhus and smallpox. 

In 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition in London celebrating Britain’s wealth, the Warwick Workhouse was full to capacity, and some poor people resorted to breaking lamps in the Market Place in order to get arrested so that they could have a meal in prison. 

After the talk, and some tea and cake, the afternoon ended on a lighter note with a quiz about the Victorian era and Warwick in Victorian times. 

‘In the Ballroom’ is organised each month by the Town Council and Unlocking Warwick. It is supported by The Big Lottery ‘Awards for All’ and The King Henry VIII Endowed Trust.