A house of industry was a charitable institution established in the 18th and 19th centuries various cities in the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
under the
Poor Law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
to offer relief to the destitute. Originally, these institutions took the form of
workhouses
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses. The earliest ...
which would forcibly lodge the poor and put them to work. Later, they would offer temporary and permanent lodging, food, fuel, and other assistance to the poor.
Examples include:
*
House of Industry (Dublin)
*
Toronto House of Industry
In 1834, the United Kingdom passed a new Poor Law which created the system of Victorian workhouses (or "Houses of Industry") that Charles Dickens described in ''Oliver Twist''. Sir Francis Bond Head, the new lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada in 1 ...
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Social welfare charities