Long-term Workhouse Inmates in Biggleswade Union, Bedfordshire, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Cousins | 26 | 0 | Imbecile | dist. school. |
| John Brittain | 9 | 0 | Ruptured | dist. school. |
| Samuel Bilcock | 6 | 0 | Imbecile | dist. school. |
| James Hayes | 26 | 0 | Dislocation of shoulder | not any school. |
| Jacob Craft | 8 | 0 | Bad leg and chronic rheumatism | dist. school. |
| William Foxley | 8 | 0 | Ruptured | not any school. |
| George Beaumont | 14 | 0 | Idiotic | not any school. |
| Thomas Dear | 10 | 0 | ditto | not any school. |
| John Chessum | 8 | 0 | ditto | not any school. |
| Sarah Crawley | 7 | 0 | Idiotic | not any school. |
| Ann Pack | 6 | 0 | Widow, aged | dist. school. |
| Mary Stevens | 6 | 0 | Widow, imbecile | not any school. |
| Sarah Collop | 26 | 0 | Imbecile | dist. school. |
| Sophia Hughes | 26 | 0 | ditto | dist. school. |
| Johanna Northfield | 17 | 0 | ditto | not any school. |
| Elizabeth Harris | 26 | 0 | ditto | not any school. |
| Elizabeth Wells | 7 | 0 | Widow, very aged | not any school. |
| Mary Swayle | 14 | 0 | Imbecile | private school. |
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