Genealogy Chat

Hi all Try this one for info, will have the workhouse you want if you put a search in too http://users.ox.ac(.)uk/~peter/workhouse/index(.)html remove brackets as usual Elaine

Thank you Old Crone for sharing your knowledge. I had wondered about some of these things myself. The conditions and treatment sound horrific. If you were ill did you get treatment in the workhouse too? Is there a site where you can read more about this? Thanks Maggie

Thank you Olde Crone and Jess... for passing on your knowledge. I think this is the sort of history that should be taught in schools. I will count my blessings, count them day by day. Beryl xx

Beryl No, the Inmates didnt normally work outside unless they were employed as Aglabs or something - there would either have been a factory inside the Workhouse, or, I suppose, they might have been marched back and fro to a nearby Factory - under the strictest supervision though. (Think prison, and you will have some idea) If you remember that the ethos of the Workhouse was to make the conditions in the Workhouse worse than the conditions of the poorest people outside the Workhouse you will have some idea of what went on. This was to discourage the feckless and lazy entering the Workhouse in their droves. I wept buckets when I found my Jane - she had been air-brushed from my family's memory. I was extremely lucky to get a copy of her exit papers from the Workhouse - she went as a General/Nursemaid to a Clergyman in the Isle of Man (Odd: that's where her mother came from....) and there is a copy of her reference from the Workhouse Matron, saying that Jane 'Is clean and fastidious of her person. She has Laundry and Needlework skills and is capable of taking instruction. She has lately worked in the Nursery' I lose her after that, but oh, I hope she was happy in her new life. Olde Crone

Dear Olde Crone, Sarah had her four children before going into the workhouse. Her Father looked after the first two. Of the second two, one was sent as a servant and I can not trace the other. Is so sad I wonder what happened to them. Beryl

The work house would have been just that - a place where she could work to earn her keep....and Probably nothing more. there are still folk alive today that remember the workhouses where the elderly/ destitute lived and had to work dammned hard to earn fiood and shelter

Thank you old crone. Sarah is in the workhouse 1881/1891/1901 do you know if she would go out to work and use the workhouse as a form of lodging. Or would she work in the workhouse? I am very ignorant regarding past social history. Beryl. x Jess... I wasn't caught short just computer illiterate! x

what a sad story Old crone life must have been terrible for people with disabilities

The 1821 census????? If you were destitute and in the Workhouse, you were put to work. You had no choice in the matter. The local wealthy businessmen (and therefore Ratepayers) contracted work to the Workhouse Master. Any wages received went to the Master, not to the Inmate and thus many people were utterly trapped in the System.The only way out was for a MALE relative to sign you out, or a placement in an outside job. It was the realisation of this stupid situation which led to, eventually, a system of Out-relief, although this was a very long time coming. (Your rellie must have got out at least four times, LOL, as there was strict segregation of the sexes) Olde Crone

And, just because you appear in the Workhouse on Census night, doesnt mean you were there the day before, or even the day after. The woman whom I think is my 3 x GGM, goes in and out of the Workhouse like a fiddler's elbow, due to her unfortunate habit of having illegitimate children. On the other hand, I DO have an ancestor who spent the first 39 years of her life in the Workhouse - she entered aged 17 months, labelled 'imbecile' and emerged aged 39, as Deaf and Dumb. Her parents paid a small weekly sum towards her keep. This was in 1860-1900, and I suppose that the Workhouse doubled as an Institution for long-stay cases. Olde Crone

Sorry... ..about the delay. Sarah was naughty as she had four children out of wedlock!!!! However was it normal to stay in for 20 years. On the 1821 census Sarah Starkey and many of the other inmates worked in the shoe industry perhaps they were not able to find work due to progress!!! Why such a length of time? Beryl

You weren't put int he workhouse because you were naughty, but because you were destitute. If you had a disability or some other problem which prevented you from earning enough to pay rent, you'd stay in the workhouse. nell

Blimey - either they were very naughty or there were an awful lot of them. maybe the poster got caught short!

Beryl I'm absolutely agog, hurry up!

Naughty Sarah was found on census over a period of twenty years. Looking at the people who shared her accomodation