| Description | The Branch Workhouse sub-committee was formed some time before 1879, but the exact date is unclear. Consisting of eight Guardians, it was the sub-committee's job to 'open and manage the Floodgate Street premises as a Branch Workhouse.' (see GP B/2/3/6/1) The trade directories for that period do not refer to any premises on Floodgate Street being under the ownership or lease of the Union, but the minutes nevertheless give a lot of detail on the renovation and furnishing of the building, and the employment of staff to run it.
The building may have been owned by Birmingham council, as the minutes include a letter from the Surveyor's Department, dated July 1880, which requests that 'we shall require possession of the premises occupied by the Guardians on Floodgate Street.' Following a discussion by the Guardians on whether new premises should be leased, or an entirely new building constructed, the Board agreed to the building of another branch workhouse on Lansdowne Street. This eventually became the Union's test house and, indeed, from October 1880 the sub-committee became known as the Test House sub-committee (see GP B/2/3/7). The volume is not indexed. |