victim systematic course treachery deception he was brought up by hand destitute situation infant orphan duly reported by the workhouse authorities to parish authorities inquired with dignity of the workhouse authorities whetever there was no female then domiciled in who was in a situation to impart to oliver twist the consolation and nourishment of which he stood in need the workhouse authorities replied with humility , that there was not. upon this , the parish authorities magnanimously and humanely resolved , that oliver should be farmed or , in other words, that he should be dispatched to a branchworkhouse some three miles off where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws rolled about the floor all day , without the inconvenience of too much oliver food or too much clothing , under the parental super intendence of an elderly female who received the culprists at and for the consideration of seven pence halfpenny per small head per week seven pence - halfpenny's worth per week is a good round diet for a child ; a great deal may be got for seven pence - halfpenny, quite enough to overload its stomach , and make it uncomfortable