Beaker, drinking vessel

Pewter half pint beaker made by pewterer and Sherriff of London Sir George Alderson and dating from around 1817 to 1826. It is stamped with three lions passant and a ½PINT stamp just below the rim. Inside the base there is a circular touch inscribed 'ALDERSON'. The body is engraved in cursive script ‘Mount St Workhouse’ where it was used. It has a turned, spreading pedestal foot and a turned rim. Sir George Alderson became free of the Worshipful Company of Pewterer's by patronage in 1792, and was elected Master in 1823. Sir George Alderson became free of the Worshipful Company of Pewterer's by patronage in 1792, and was elected Master in 1823.

The Mount Street workhouse was originally built in 1725. It was enlarged in the 1780s, to provide work, food and accommodation for approximately 700 people, making it one of the largest workhouses in the country. It eventually closed in the early 1870s due to overcrowding, with paupers transferred to other workhouses. Beer, drunk in beaker's like this, would have been the standard drink provided to workhouse inmates in the early 19th century, being more nutritious and safer to drink than water which was often contaminated. Each inmate had their own beaker in which to drink their daily ration of beer.