Family historian Paul Wilkins gives advice on looking at family records.

Some weeks ago I wrote about Poor Law records. This week I want to look specifically at Workhouse records. As I discussed some time ago there have been many Acts of Parliament going back hundreds of years, providing for the poor in England and Wales.

One of the main Government Acts relating to workhouses was the Knatchbull’s General Workhouse Act of 1723 where parishes were given the powers to erect workhouses. As a direct result of this Act, between 1723 and 1750, 600 parish workhouses were built in England and Wales.

The passing of the Gilbert’s Act, in 1782 led to parishes combining together to form Poor Law Unions. The Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834 set out that confinement to the workhouse was at the centre of poor relief provision. It also directed administrators to discourage people from seeking poor relief by making workhouses as unpleasant and as nasty as possible. Living conditions in the workhouse were made very harsh. The main reason being was to discourage people from seeking help. Families were separated, and lived in different parts of the workhouse. The inmates had to undertake very difficult work which included stone breaking, bone crushing and oakum picking. The inmate or pauper would have worn a uniform, there would have been letters sewn onto them, ‘P’ for pauper, followed by the letter of the parish.

It is only worth looking for workhouse records if you find your ancestors listed in the census as a pauper, or on a certificate as being born or having died in the workhouse. There are very few records to look at. One of the only documents you may find are the admission books. Anyone who went into the workhouses would have had their names put in the workhouse admission book, along with other information such as year of birth, marital status, the reason they needed poor relief, religion, and even a brief physical description. The best place to start your search is at a local record office or archive. You need to be aware that some records relating to workhouse inmates are subject to a 100 year closure period.

* Two free websites on the subject of workhouses can be found at Rossbret Workhouses: http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/ and Peter Higginbotham’s: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/