Welwyn, Hertfordshire

[Up to 1834] [After 1834] [Staff] [Inmates] [Records] [Bibliography] [Links]

Up to 1834

A parliamentary report of 1777 recorded parish workhouses in operation at Ayott St Peter's (for up to 4 inmates), Digswell (9), and Wellwyn (8).

A new Welwyn parish workhouse was built in 1830 on London Road.

After 1834

Welwyn Poor Law Union was formed on 4th July, 1835. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 5 in number, representing its 4 constituent parishes as listed below (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one):

County of Hertford: Ayot St Lawrence, Ayot St Peter, Digswell, Welwyn (2).

The population falling within the Union at the 1831 census had been 1,970 with parishes ranging in size from Ayot St Lawrence (population 134) to Welwyn itself (1,369). The average annual poor-rate expenditure for the period 1831-34 had been £1,037 or 10s.6d. per head of the population.

With only five Guardians on its Board, and less than 2,000 inhabitants in its catchment area, Welwyn was possibly the smallest union in the country. The new union took over the existing Welwyn parish building for use as the Union workhouse. It could accommodate about sixty inmates. A small infirmary was added at the north of the workhouse in 1880. Its location and layout are shown on the 1898 OS map.

"Welwyn workhouse site, 1898.

Welwyn workhouse site, 1898.

Welwyn infirmary block from the west, 2001.
© Peter Higginbotham.

By the early 1900s, the Welwyn workhouse had a reputation as operating a fairly generous regime for its inmates. This was, perhaps, because the town received a high proportion of its rates from railway companies rather than private householders. The Royal Commission looking at Poor Relief in 1906-9 heard that the workhouse was a small place, rather like an almshouse, with 17 inmates in residence. Each day 17.5 pints of beer were served, each person receiving it (as regulations required) under doctor's orders.

Welwyn Poor Law Union was dissolved in 1921 and the workhouse was used as a children's home for the Hatfield Union until 1924. The buildings have now been adapted for residential use.

Staff

Inmates

Records

Bibliography

  • Gutchen RM, Truwert E, and Peters G (1984) Down and Out in Hertfordshire — A Symposium on the Old and New Poor Law (Hertfordshire Publications)

Links

  • None.

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