The St James Workhouse opened in 1725 on Poland Street in the

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

area of

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, in what was then the parish of

Westminster St James Westminster St James (or St James Piccadilly) was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish followed the building of the Church of St James, Piccadilly, in 1684. After several failed attempts, the ...

, and continued well into the nineteenth century. Higginbotham conjectured that the infirmary at St James Workhouse was the one referred to in the American song "

St. James Infirmary Blues "St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American blues song and jazz standard of uncertain origin. Louis Armstrong made the song famous in his 1928 recording on which Don Redman was credited as composer; later releases gave the name Joe Primrose, a ...

", on the basis that that song dates from 'at least the early 19th century'. Inhabitants included the painter Charlotte Mercier, who died there in 1762.Profile of Claude Mercier
in the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''. The site of the workhouse is now the Q Park parking garage occupying the space between Poland Street and Marshall Street.'The burial ground and workhouse', Survey of London: volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2 (1963), pp. 209-218. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41472 Date accessed: 1 October 2014.

References

Workhouses in London 1725 establishments in Great Britain 19th-century disestablishments in England Poor law infirmaries {{UK-struct-stub