THE POORHOUSE OF HALLUM

 


 

An anthology from the “Minutes of the meetings of the

Board of Governors of the poorhouse in Hallum” from May 23, 1887 - February 5, 1908


We start with the first meeting of “this board, as the result of the reorganization of the Municipal Board of Charities, as prepared by resolution of the municipal council of November 18, 1884.”  This meeting was held on “Monday, the 23rd of May, 1887, at 5:00 p.m. concerning the aforementioned institution.  Present are the gentlemen H.P. Hoogland, Y.J. Kooistra, S.S. Minnema, R.H. Talsma and F.C. Wiesenhaan”. This last-mentioned gentleman was elected as chairman with four votes. A month later, Mr. H.P. Hoogland was appointed as secretary with four votes. Subsequently they drew up some rules and regulations, among others a statutory rule “regulating the duties of the poor-father and poor-mother as well as the residents in the institution”. The governors met monthly in the poorhouse and individually they were assigned, by weekly rotation, to monitor the operation of the facility. The board, “new style”, began with the preparation of an application process for a new poor-father and poor-mother. The existing poor-father, Pieter Rochus Bloemsma, and his spouse were awarded a pension of fl. 150 per year.  There were also plans for renovations and the municipal architect was mandated to “draw up a plan for change, along with a budget”. The Dutch Reformed and the Christian Reformed parishes of Hallum were asked to dedicate pews for the use of the residents of the institution free of charge. Next, the 14-year-old Thijs Kuiphof was summoned to the meeting. He was advised to look for a placement outside the poorhouse. The reason is not mentioned in the minutes. They probably decided that he was capable of better things. At any rate, he left the poorhouse in January of 1888 to join the navy by enrolling at the (navy) training college in Leiden. It is clear: the governors of the poorhouse kept themselves occupied with many matters both great and small.

During the meeting of June 7, 1887 it appears that 50 candidates had applied for the position of poor-father and poor-mother. Six couples were selected and called to appear at the home of innkeeper H. Schaap in Leeuwarden for interviews. All were from outside of the municipality of Ferwerderadeel. It was not an easy choice to make: one was hard of hearing and therefore unfit; or one husband seemed to be too gentle; a wife was too slightly built and too weak; and in yet another case the impression was given that the wife was somewhat slovenly. Finally the governors agreed that a couple from Harlingen, Yme de Groot and his wife, had given a favourable impression and they were invited to come to view the poorhouse. However, Yme de Groot declined the position unless they increased the maximum posted salary of fl. 200 per year. This was rejected, whereupon guardian Minnema proposed they give couples from Hallum a chance. Two couples were invited. A. Dijkstra and his wife were considered to be very suitable, although he did not appear suited for administration. Tjeerd van der Leest and his wife Aaltje Halma, by contrast, were both, although youthful, found to be very suitable and were appointed for a period of one year.
On the 9th of July the governors dealt with the impertinent way in which Jacob Wierstra had refused to submit his earnings. He was called to account; he offered his apologies, promised to do better and was allowed to stay. Another resident, Mrs. Visbeek, was advised that her husband, after being released from prison, would not be admitted to the poorhouse. Some three weeks later it appears that, one way or another, he had managed to secure a place in the poorhouse and that he then refused to take his family and leave willingly. Eventually he was allowed to stay in one of the annexes for the time being. From time to time the governors made their rounds inspecting the poorhouse “while the residents were just sitting down to eat. The food that was provided did not exactly please most of the governors.”
Concerning the renovation plans the governors determined “that the room designated for admission of homeless families must be so primitive that those families will look for another home as soon as possible”.  A policy of discouragement was obviously already in vogue at the end of the 19th century.
Occasionally the governors felt obliged to take disciplinary measures. “Because of his impudent behaviour in disturbing the peace of the institution, as well as his refusal to submit his earnings, and instigating other residents to resist as well”, it was decided to dismiss G. van Kollen from the home in spite of his age.  According to the governors he had crossed the line, and a subsequent application for re-admittance was refused because he was considered “incorrigible”.
Reports on the earnings of the residents, or should we rather say, the weekly collection of the money they earned, is an item of business oft repeated in the minutes. There was much opposition to this policy; the poor-father was the one usually mandated to perform the thankless task of controlling and collecting these earnings. In fact the governors held the convenient view that they themselves should not be over-much in contact with the residents.

In October of 1887, bids on the proposed renovations were tendered and there were four interested parties, namely J.S. Mellema of Marrum, M. Holwerda of Hijum, AE.L. Hiemstra and J.R. Jansma of Hallum. The job was awarded to the lowest bidder, AE.L.Hiemstra, to complete the work in 7 weeks for fl. 645.00. Even potatoes, although usually low in price, were bought by public tender in quantities of 200 bushels. The sale was awarded to S. Hofman, Hallum, for fl. 1.40 per bushel and his potatoes were “received satisfactory”. On the occasion of the Hallum fair in November of 1887, each of the residents received, as was the custom, a piece of cake. However, the chairman disagreed with this policy, since this had also been done so recently at the installation of the new poor-father/mother, and then with the added luxury of chocolate milk! Some of the residents had not behaved themselves at that time. It was finally decided to hand out the cake anyway, “with the exception of those about whom there had been complaints”. The next point of discussion was the manner of punishment. Minnema, Talsma, and Hoogland felt that only those who deserved punishment should be punished. Wiesenhaan and Kooistra although they did agree to this in principle, felt the punishment should be carried over to all of the residents in order that corrective action would emanate from the residents themselves. During a meeting it was also observed that “idleness in residents who are still able to work is wrong”. But it was “very difficult to ascertain” to which type of work this should lead. The subject was postponed to the next meeting.
Poor-father Van der Leest gave his opinion “that it was impossible to prevent, at least sufficiently, lasciviousness and disorderly conduct”. This led to a number of measures. The “privé’s” (toilets in the form of “húsketonnen” [privy barrels]) were to be locked and the key was to be kept in the residents’ dormitory.  The governors considered whether one of the residents might be appointed as supervisor and whether a wooden fence should be erected, this latter to obscure the view of the “húskes” (privies) which were outside in the yard.

Early in 1888 the retiring chairman (Wiesenhaan) and secretary (Hoogland) were re-elected. It also becomes clear that their efforts to procure a loan to finance the renovations has not been successful and therefore this problem had to be solved in another way. Due to a decision of the council of the municipality of Ferwerderadeel on June 28, 1887, in which it was determined “that for the municipality there would be only ONE poorhouse,” the poorhouses in Ferwerd and Blija having “become superfluous,” all the residents from Ferwerd and Blija were admitted to the Hallum poorhouse. Since the governors in Hallum were now obliged to take over the duties of their colleagues from Ferwerd and Blija, they were of the opinion that they were therefore authorized to sell those unused buildings in order to pay the cost of the needed renovations. However, the municipal council had other ideas and objected to handing over the Ferwerd poorhouse to the governors. It was therefore decided that initially only the poorhouse in Blija would be sold. A half year later the governors informed the municipal council that, since there still was no provision made to make that poorhouse available, they now renounced their claim to the poorhouse in Blija as well. But they did remain in contact with one another.  On the 25th of August, 1888, a so-called “comparitie” (meeting) took place in the poorhouse with council members Bouma, Jansma, Boersma, Sytsma, van Dijk, Stienstra, and Miedema.  They were given a guided tour of the facility, and spoke “positively concerning all the improvements as well as the plans still pending”. Two families living in the annexes were known to be “bad individuals and should be removed from there, as well because these buildings are unfit for habitation”. The governors wanted to transfer them to the former poorhouse in Blija. However, discussion about this was halted “because of the presence of the council members.” In mid 1888 the governors resolved once more, very definitely, that the guardians (from the different villages), although they were allowed to temporarily admit the needy into the poorhouse in case of an emergency, must abide by the fact that the final application for permanent admittance is to be decided by no-one but the governors only!

Poor-father Van der Leest, whose appointment had in the meantime been renewed for another year, was charged to follow the orders of the governors precisely. This included, among other things, that he takes into custody the goods which residents brought along when admitted to the house. This might include just about anything: a chest, a bed, but also clothing or, in an odd case, jewelry. They wanted the residents to be dressed as nearly alike as possible. When a resident died, his property could be delivered to his heirs upon payment of a sum of money.  The governors determined the amount. In this way, the goods of the late Wagenaar “that were of little value could be released to the family for a payment of fl. 3.00”, whereas the goods of the late Lelia were only allowed to be given to the heirs if they paid the cost of the coffin in the amount of fl. 8.00. Later a rule was put into place that, as soon as the family had provided for the burial expenses, the goods could be delivered to them.