Editing Joseph Merrick (section)

== Employment and the workhouse ==
{{Quote box
 |quote=I was taunted and sneered at so that I would not go home to my meals, and used to stay in the streets with a hungry belly rather than return for anything to eat, what few half-meals I did have, I was taunted with the remark—"That's more than you have earned."
 |source =— ''The Autobiography of Joseph Carey Merrick''<ref name=pamphlet />
 |align = right
 |salign = right
 |width = 33%
}}
Merrick left school aged 13, which was usual for the time.<ref name=Howell48 /> His home life was now "a perfect misery",<ref name=pamphlet /> and neither his father nor his stepmother demonstrated affection toward him.<ref name=Howell47 /> He ran away "two or three" times, but was taken back by his father each time.<ref name=pamphlet /> At 13, he found work rolling cigars in a factory, but after three years, the deformity of his right hand had worsened to the extent that he no longer had the dexterity required for the job.<ref name=Howell48 /> Now unemployed, he spent his days wandering the streets, looking for work and avoiding his stepmother's taunts.<ref name=odnb />

As Merrick was becoming a greater financial burden on his family, his father eventually secured him a [[Peddler|hawker]]'s licence enabling him to earn money selling items from the haberdashery shop, door to door.<ref name=Howell49 /> This endeavour was unsuccessful because Merrick's facial deformities rendered his speech increasingly unintelligible, and prospective customers reacted with horror to his physical appearance. People refused to open the door to him, and they not only stared at him, but followed him out of curiosity.<ref name=Howell49 /> Merrick failed to make enough money as a hawker to support himself. On returning home one day in 1877, he was severely beaten by his father and he left home for good.<ref name=Howell50 />

[[File:josephmerrick1889.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Merrick photographed in 1889, the year before his death]]
Merrick was now homeless on the streets of Leicester. His uncle, a barber named Charles Merrick, on hearing of his nephew's situation, sought him out and offered him accommodation in his home.<ref name=Howell51 /> Merrick continued to hawk around Leicester for the next two years but his efforts to earn a living met with little more success than before. Eventually, his disfigurement drew such negative attention from members of the public that the Commissioners for [[Hackney carriage#History|Hackney Carriages]] withdrew his licence when it came up for renewal.<ref name=Howell51 /> With young children to provide for, Charles could no longer afford to support his nephew. In late December 1879, now 17 years old, Merrick entered the Leicester Union Workhouse.<ref name=Howell52 />

One of 1,180 residents in the [[workhouse]],<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin88 /> Merrick was given a classification to determine his place of accommodation. The class system specified the department or ward in which a resident would reside, as well as the amounts of food received. Merrick was classified as Class One for able-bodied people.<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin88 /> On 22&nbsp;March 1880, only 12 weeks after entering the workhouse, Merrick signed himself out and spent two days looking for work. With no more success than before, he found himself with no option but to return to the workhouse. This time, he stayed for four years.<ref name=Howell57 />

Around 1882, Merrick underwent surgery on his face. The protrusion from his mouth had grown to 20–22 centimetres, severely inhibiting his speech and making it difficult to eat.<ref name=Howell58 /> The operation was performed in the Workhouse Infirmary under the direction of Dr Clement Frederick Bryan, during which a large part of the mass was removed.<ref name=Vigor-Mungovin96 />