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Were any of your ancestors in the Workhouse?
No, you may think, but until the advent of the National Health Service in 1948, the Workhouse Infirmary was one of the few places where medical assistance or care could be obtained free of charge. So many children were born in the Workhouse and many older people ended their days in one.
Union workhouses began to be established from 1840 onwards. Prior to this time the care of the poor fell to individual Church of England parishes. Any records for pre 1840 will be with the Parish Records.
Poor Law Records (called Board of Guardians)
The Victorians were very keen on record keeping and the Unions kept many different types of records for the people who passed through their doors. Some Unions have very extensive surviving records which give a vivid picture of life at the lower end of the wealth scale.
Most records are held at the appropriate County Records Office, but some are also with Local Studies Libraries or City Archives like the London Metropolitan Archives.
There are also some records at the Public Record Office at Kew, mainly correspondence files and some staff records as well.
Records vary from Union to Union, for example they all kept Admission and Discharge Registers detailing all the people who entered the workhouse. The first problem to overcome is, have the records survived? Then you will find that the standard and amount of information can be quite variable. Some Admission records are partially indexed, most are not and you simply have to plough through all the records.
What might you find?
Anything from nothing, through a name on a list to a potted personal history.
Staff records, in particular, can be very informative and you may find a document actually signed by your ancestor! Beware, some of the information contained in the records is very direct, there was no such thing as political correctness in Victorian society.
Records relating to children and people classified as lunatics are the most comprehensive.
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