January th 10 1853 Kidderminster Union
Sirs With greatest submission I beg the favour of your kind Interference respecting am act of cruelty to thez Children and injustice to they Inmates of the Kidderminster Union generally Sirs according to the Dietary of the house an Mondays and Fridays thez inmates have Meat and Bread and Vegitables for Dinner and these are supposd to be good and eatable. The substance of my Complaint is that For the last Month thez inmates have had parsnips and Carrots with their meat which weve reard in the house garden. And which have been kept until they were spoild and not fit to eat. and these have been cookd and served to the inmates as part of their Dinner. When scarsely one of the inmates could eat them. And on the 17th of December which was Friday Eight of thez Boys were punishd by the loss of their supper because they could not eat them. And again on the 10th of January Six or Eight of these Boys had their Bread stoppd for the same reason. Sirs you will think it very strange that i did not make my complaint to the Commissioner when he was here a few weeks back. but the Govenor did not take him all over the house and i did not see him. and most of these inmates were afraid to speak their mind. A few other complaints I have to make. There is insuffisient Ventilation and Over coouded bedrooms thez afflicted are not properly attended to and insufficient fires for the house.
Sirs i humbly beg that you will excuse my boldnes in thus addressing you but i thought it was my Duty as to do as well for thez rest of thez inmates as for myself. and as i am uneducated your generosity will excuse my ignorance and I humbly hope you will institute an inquirey into the above complaints when facts will show more than i can tell I now remain your most Obedient and humble Servant
W Miles An Inmate