The Thanksgiving Model Buildings At Port Pool Lane, Gray's Inn, Are So
Called Because They Were Built With A Thank-Offering Collected In The
Various Religious Societies Of London, As An Appropriate Expression Of
Their Gratitude To God For The Removal Of The Cholera.
This block of
buildings has in it accommodations for twenty families, and one
hundred and twenty-eight single women; together with a public wash
house, and a large cellar, in which are stored away the goods of those
women who live by the huckster's trade.
The hundred and twenty-eight single women, of whom the majority are
supposed to be poor needlewomen, occupy sixty-four rooms in a building
of four stories, divided by a central staircase; a corridor on either
side forms a lobby to eight rooms, each twelve feet six inches long,
by nine feet six inches wide, sufficiently large for two persons. They
are fitted up with two bedsteads, a table, chairs, and a washing
stand. The charge is one shilling per week for each person, or two
shillings per room.
Lord Shaftesbury took me into one of the rooms, where was an aged
female partially bedridden, who maintained herself by sewing, The room
was the picture of neatness and comfort; a good supply of hot and cold
water was furnished in it. Her work was spread out by her upon the
bed, together with her Bible and hymn book; she looked cheerful and
comfortable. She seemed pleased to see Lord Shaftesbury, whom she had
evidently seen many times before, as his is a familiar countenance in
all these places.
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