Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Bridgwater Union, Somerset, 1861
In 1861, the Poor Law Board published a return of the name every adult pauper who had been a workhouse inmate for a continuous period of five years or more, together with the duration of their residence (in years and months), the reason for it, and whether they had been brought up in a District or separate Workhouse School. It was noted that the term 'District School' had been widely misinterpreted by respondents as meaning any school in the local area, such as a national or private school, and that there was only one instance in the whole report of an inmate actually having been in such a school.
Name | Yrs | ms. | Reason | School |
---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph Bartlett | 7 | 0 | Blind | no. |
Joseph Crowden | 26 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
Mary Gulliford | 12 | 0 | Lunatic | no. |
Richard Whittecombe | 8 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
Jane Williams | 8 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
Betty Hooper | 20 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
Jemima Crossby | 7 | 0 | ditto | no. |
Mary Ann Tucker | 7 | 0 | Blind | no. |
Mary Rowley | 10 | 0 | Lunatic | no. |
John Lawpin | 7 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
Betty Lansford | 16 | 0 | ditto | no. |
Mary Dicker | 20 | 0 | Deaf and dumb | no. |
Jane Sparks | 20 | 0 | Weak mind | no. |
Martha Speed | 20 | 0 | ditto | no. |
Lear Tucker | 10 | 0 | Cripple | no. |
Rachel Burston | 20 | 0 | Lunatic | no. |
Jane Gibbs | 6 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
Maria Fisher | 7 | 0 | Lunatic | no. |
Joan Fisher | 11 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
Mary Stevens | 12 | 0 | Blind | no. |
John Lee | 7 | 0 | Infirm | no. |
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