BRIEF HISTORY DURING THE SNOW ERA (1813-58)

"There are certain circumstances bearing on the subject of this outbreak of cholera which require to be mentioned. The Workhouse in Poland Street is more than three-fourths surrounded by houses in which deaths from cholera occurred, yet out of five hundred and thirty-five inmates only five died of cholera, the other deaths which took place being those of persons admitted after they were attacked. The workhouse has a pump-well on the premises, in addition to the supply from the Grand Junction Water Works, and the inmates never sent to Broad Street for water. If the mortality in the workhouse had been equal to that in the streets immediately surrounding it on three sides, upwards of one hundred persons would have died." 

- Snow, John. Communication of Cholera, 1855, p. 42

The workhouse was mentioned by John Snow as St. James's Workhouse in part 2 of his book, and is at the base of Portland Street, on the west side of Poland Street.

Saint James's Workhouse was built in 1727-7, stimulated by a 1723 Act of Parliament that empowered local governments to lodge the poor and encourage them to work. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 solidified the role of workhouses, mandating that there should be no relief for poverty or unemployment outside the workhouse.  All who wanted aid from the government had to live in a workhouse.  Since many paupers were also sick or disabled, infirmaries were added to workhouses, including isolation wards and fever wings.  The two  infirmaries at the Saint James's Workhouse for males and females are seen in the 1870 map (see below). 

The original 1727 facility was remodeled and partially rebuilt over the years, but only as accommodations were needed.  In 1820, children from a local school that was closed were moved into the workhouse, adding further space pressure. The children's school was finally relocated in 1851.  Five years later in 1856 a water main broke under the chapel, causing walls to crack and fall.  In 1858 the female inmates fled into the streets when ominous cracking sounds were heard from the foundation, suggesting the building would topple.  By the end of 1858, shortly after John Snow's death, work started on a new facility.  

The workhouse is not shown on the 1859 map but is in the area just to the left of "n d" in Poland Street.  

Sources: 

Sheppard FHW. Survey of London, Vol. 32, 1963.

Weinreb B, Hibbert C (eds). The London Encyclopaedia, 1993.